More Ebola cases verified in Congo

The number of suspected cases of Ebola has risen to 18 from nine in nearly a week in an isolated part of Democratic Republic of Congo, where three have died from the disease since April 22, the World Health Organization said Thursday.

The risk from the outbreak is “high at the national level,” the WHO said, because the disease was so severe and was spreading in a remote area in northeastern Congo with “suboptimal surveillance” and limited access to health care.

“Risk at the regional level is moderate due to the proximity of international borders and the recent influx of refugees from Central African Republic,” the organization said, but it nonetheless described the global risk as low because the area is so remote.

About a week ago, in addition to the nine suspected cases, 125 patients who had come into close contact with the disease were being monitored. Now, about 400 patients are being followed, and the two newest possible cases were reported Monday and Tuesday, according to the latest report on the WHO website.

The outbreak was reported in a densely forested part of Bas-Uele province, near the border with the Central African Republic. Cases have occurred in four separate parts of a region called the Likati health zone.

Aid groups and the WHO have struggled to reach the affected area, which has no paved roads and can be reached only by a motorcycle ride through the forest, or by helicopter or light aircraft.